“No, I’ll go pick one up. There’s a good place on this block.” He slipped out of bed and started getting dressed, tugging on a pair of blue jeans and a long-sleeved black shirt. God, he looked tempting. “Listen to me, Pepper, I don’t want you answering the door under any circumstance. Got it?”
“Okay.”
“As long as you’re here, you’re safe. I won’t be long.”
She looked forward to a night of cuddling with Viper on the sofa, watching movies, and eating pizza. Before he left the room, his cell dinged from a text message. He glanced at the screen for a just a second, then cursed, tossing it on his dresser.
Once she’d heard him leave the condo, the door secured behind him, she got out of bed and stretched. Her body was pleasantly sore. Pepper opened one of Viper’s drawers and grabbed a t-shirt. She wandered around. It was strange being alone in Viper’s private domain. But there really wasn’t anything personal to find because he had no mementos, no pictures, nothing tying him to real life. His phone dinged again, so she checked it out, reading the screen before it faded away. She slapped her hand over her mouth. Oh no, please no…
The text was from someone named Maurice. It was a warning. Some Bianchi crime family had put a hit out on Viper for killing one of their men. They were scouring the city. He was in danger.
Pepper danced around the room in a panic. She couldn’t call him because he’d left the phone behind. But he’d read the damn message. Did he have a death wish? Or had the first message been something else? She rummaged through her possessions and slipped on her tights. The pizza place was close, so she’d find him, and warn him. Faced with the possibility of losing him, made her realize how much she needed him.
She unbolted the door and ran down the hallway to the elevator, tapping her foot impatiently as she waited. It was late, so she couldn’t stop imagining a bunch of paid hitmen ganging up on Viper.
When she reached the ground floor, she rushed out into the street. She didn’t care that she looked like shit, her mind only on finding Viper. As she wandered back and forth, wondering which way she should try first, she noticed two black SUVs parked in front of the condo. When she looked closer, the men inside were staring at her with recognition in their eyes. A shiver of fear ran down her spine as she realized how much danger she’d put herself in.
If anyone could handle himself, it was Viper, a trained mercenary with a track record of clean kills. But Pepper was only twenty years old, trapped on the street with no way to get back into the safe haven upstairs, and a worldwide hit on her head.
Chapter Seven
Viper stood in the pizza place. With his order already placed, he looked through one of the menus on the counter. He’d ordered three styles of pizza: pepperoni, spicy meat, and one with anchovies. He didn’t like anchovies, but maybe Pepper did. If not, then he could just remove them, and eat it himself.
With his hand in his pocket, he glanced outside of the pizza place, and knew without a doubt that he was being watched. All of his life he’d been trained. If Pepper thought the story he told her about the pups was bad, she didn’t even know the half of it. That wasn’t so bad compared to the other shit he went through. The people who owned him would make all the kids stand in line, and anyone who failed a task was beaten by another child.
No!
He wasn’t going to think about that shit again. The moment he could, he got out. He’d learned to fight back, and he killed every single one of those motherfuckers. Boss had also helped, and that was how he and Boss had become acquainted. That man was a machine and had one of the highest kill ratios in the world.
“Sir, your pizza is ready.”
“Thank you.”
He looked out of the window and saw the man all dressed in black. This wasn’t a kill from Pepper’s stepfather. This was something else.
Moving back to the counter, he smiled at the man. “My wife has been nagging me for weeks. You know the pizza wheel thing you guys use, I don’t suppose I can buy one from you guys? It’ll save me a big headache.” He held out a hundred, and the guy was more than happy to oblige.
“Thank you. You’re a life saver,” Viper said, winking at him.
Leaving the shop, Viper walked down the street aware of the man following him. By his side, out of everyone’s line of sight, he held the pizza wheel. This wasn’t the most threatening tool to have, but for Viper, it was all he needed.
In the reflection of the shop windows, he saw the man getting close. He made a right turn, placed the pizza boxes on top of a garbage can, and counted to three. As soon as he rounded the corner, he grabbed the stranger, slamming his head against the brick wall. Viper caught him around the throat, and pressed the wheel right next to his artery. With enough pressure to cut the artery, and make the man bleed, it would bring death within seconds.
“Who do you work for?” Viper asked, growling the words.
The man was dazed and didn’t answer right away.
Releasing him, Viper picked up the man’s gun, pressing the barrel against his head.
“Who do you work for? I’m only going to ask this last time.”
“Bianchi, that’s the name. You killed one of their guys, and now you’ve got a big target on your head.”
“That’s not good,” Viper said. The gun would make too much noise. Back to the pizza wheel, he sliced the man’s throat, waiting for him to drop. Pocketing the pizza wheel, he grabbed the pizzas, and left the dead man in a heap in the alleyway.
He whistled as he started to walk back toward his place. When he saw Pepper running toward him, he tensed up. What he didn’t like was the SUV following behind her.
“What the fuck are you doing out of my apartment?” he asked, grabbing her arm, and pressing her up behind him, protecting her.